Mock Crash
by YAJJ
Summary: AU. After a serious crash at the hands of a drunk driver ruined Ed and Al's lives nearly 8 years ago, they are hit with another one, almost as bad as the first. How can help them through this one, and at what cost? Human!Al. Parental!Roy Royai Edwin
1. Chapter 1

**_Mock Crash_**

Author: YAJJ

A/N: Hey, this is my second FMA story! And I hope that this one will get more reviews than the last... :/ Anyway, a few days back, on Thursday, my school had to go to this thing called a mock crash, where they faked a crash scene and used voices to tell what had happened before we saw anything, and then actors after the _actual_ crash. It just got me thinking. So I decided to write this. And, to me, it's pretty good. It's all still based in Amestris and everything, but it's in the future, like in _our_ time, rather than theirs, and no one has any military status. You'll learn more about what they do later.

Disclaimer: I only _wish_ that I owned FMA.

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><p><em>"We're only telling you this for your own safety. We're not trying to stop you from having fun; we're trying to protect you. We don't want to have to tell the entire school that so-and-so died because he was driving drunk, you hear? Drinking and driving is probably the worst mistake that you can make in your life, and it'll stay with you forever. Remember that."<em>

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><p>Edward leaned against the metal interior of the bus, mulling over what he'd heard in his mind. His auto-mail leg clanked on the ground angrily each time he lifted his foot.<p>

Sure he'd already known all that. He'd been in a crash with a drunk driver before; he'd lost his parents _and_ his leg because of it. Alphonse had even been in a coma for two weeks afterwards. That'd been a nightmare, and what the speaker had said was right. The crash stayed with him since then and it'd never leave, and he hadn't even caused it! He crossed his arms and sighed deeply, blowing his bangs out of his eyes, his long red coat hanging over his shoulders lazily.

Alphonse was in the seat in front of him, thinking very seriously about the mock crash. He had a frustrated look on, his bronze eyes trained on his hands, picking at his nail unconsciously. One of his friends was shoving on his shoulder, trying to get him to joke with him about how stupid the whole scene had been, obviously not knowing that the boy had experienced such an accident, even one that was worse. He'd nearly been _killed_ in said accident. He just ignored the ignorant teen. He turned around to face his brother. "Brother, is Mr. Mustang going to pick us up after school?" he asked.

Edward glanced up at him in surprise. He blinked, and thought for a second. "That's what he said. Hmph. Doesn't matter anyway. We'd be fine whether he did or not." He spat.

Not long after the death of their parents nearly eight years ago, they'd been placed in a foster system, and had been moved from foster home to foster home all around Amestris. They'd been in the East, North, South, Central, and even the far west. The two of them were just lucky enough to have been able to stay together. They were now living in a town in the Northern Midwest area; it snowed heavily in the winter, had long winters, and short falls, springs, and summers. But it was beautiful there. In this midwestern area, they'd been "taken in" by one Roy Mustang- a volunteer firefighter with a full-time job as a defense attorney. He was fairly busy, but they'd been with him for a while and he seemed to care for them. Or, in Edward's mind, at least _pretend_ to.

They'd been with him so long that Alphonse- ever the polite child- had gone from calling him "sir" to "Mr. Mustang" on a regular basis, even "Roy" if he was feeling comfortable. Edward just creatively came up with bastard and was fine with that.

The bus rolled into the bus lot after another five minutes of driving, containing joking kids and teachers who had had it up to about there. After that, they went back to their classes, and Ed and Al obediently did as they were told, if not a little off track the rest of the day.

School came and went as it normally did. Ed was teased for his automail and long hair and odd eye color and loss-of-stature and everything else that they could think of, and Al was teased for his attachment to his brother and every other thing to be thought of. But such was the norm, and they were used to it. With a final ring of the bell, Al and Ed left their classrooms to go to their lockers and get their bags. Then, they'd wait patiently for their guardian to come to pick them up.

Roy came just five minutes after the bell, just three minutes after Ed and Al had sat against the wall to wait for him. They stood, and went out to his large SUV, opening the back door and getting in. Al went in first, and then Ed came up behind the driver's seat.

Roy grinned back at them, and Ed ignored him. Al nodded at him solemnly, which Roy thought was odd. Normally Ed would offer, "hey bastard" and Al would wave and say, "hi Mr. Mustang." He knew that _something_, though what it was he didn't know, was wrong.

"…Boys?"

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><p>...Um... I don't know what to say to you after this... um... you'll find out more about Ed and Al's past later, and more about everyone else and... yeah... so... please review, I guess? I hope that this didn't suck like people <em>seemed<em> to think that the other one I wrote, _Those Days After_, did. So, thanks for reading I guess. :) This'll be up... soon. As soon as I can make it to be, I guess. So yeah...

...

ADIOS! :D

With love...

Ja ne! :-)


	2. Chapter 2

**_Mock Crash_**

A/N: So, no reviews? At all? Thanks guys... I saw that a few people alerted it, but not even a favorite? That makes me sad... :/ This must have sucked more than I thought... 0.o hehe, sorry. Hopefully this one will be better! Please review, please!

Disclaimer: Still... don't... own... FMA... :'(

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><p>The drive back home was quiet and mundane. Roy tried to ask the boys several questions, but they were all ignored. Every single question went unanswered, and he even noticed that Al's eyes were incredibly unfocused, just watching the horizon blurrily. "Is something wrong?" he asked. Again, the question went ignored.<p>

Roy sighed and shook his head. He knew that they didn't trust him, and they probably wouldn't for a while. Not entirely, at least, but he was willing to give them time. He also knew that they were naturally quiet children… when they weren't frustrated or scared. In Ed's case, at least.

"Boys? Come on, say something. Is it the teasing? Because we've talked about that, I _know_ that we have. Several times. And you both know that they won't stop if _you_ don't tell them to. Stand up to them. Ed, I know that you can do it. You've done it to _me_ several times." He tried to get them to open up to him, but for once, nothing came out of either of their mouths. He decided to try another tactic. "Um… what did you learn today? Anything? Any highlights of the day?"

Al shifted a little to glance over at Edward, and then leaned back against the seat. Other than that, they had nothing to say.

Roy growled and punched the steering wheel gently. He glanced back at them and sighed, finding his way to the center of town. "C'mon, kids, I just want to help you. I won't tease your or anything. You can tell me what's wrong. I mean, I think we've known each other for a fair amount of time. Tell you what, if you tell me what's bothering you, then I'll tell you what's bothering me, so we can both get it off of our chests. Sound fair?" he offered. He didn't really have much bothering him, but maybe he could get them to open up a little bit, at least.

Al glanced up at him anxiously, and the second that he did, Edward sent an angry glare his way, not happy with what he was about to do, somehow knowing what he would. Blushing a little, Al opened his mouth, "Mr. Mustang… have you ever had to deal with drunk drivers?"

If Roy was expecting any question, it wasn't that. He raised his eyebrow at the boys. Even Ed had his head low a little. So were they both being bothered by the same thing? "Do you mean in real life or in my cases?" he asked them.

Ed shrugged. "Either."

"…Yeah, a few of them. I _saw_ a crash once, though it was only a minor fender bender. It was amazing how drunk the guy was, yelling that his 'spaceship' was wrecked and how he'd paid a gazillion cenz to Spock and something about Luke Skywalker and it was entirely ludicrous. The guy's car wasn't even damaged, but he was freaking out as though it had been exploded." He said, unable to keep a soft chuckle out of his voice.

Edward scoffed once, and Alphonse hugged himself a little bit.

"Why? Was there a crash yesterday that you were told about?"

"We had a mock crash today." Alphonse whimpered.

Neither boy needed to say anything more; Roy knew what was wrong. "Really? Was it hard to watch or something? I remember mine; they did it really well, all acted out and everything really well. It looked like they'd actually crashed."

Ed nodded. "It wasn't _that_ hard, it's just… I remember being in one of the actor's positions. Having to have the whole roof pulled off and having to tear away part of the car to get me out. Every time I think about it, I feel sick."

"I think that the worst part was everyone laughing and saying that it would be dumb before they saw it and then saying that it was all a big joke afterwards. 'To everyone, you're just that other person,' that guy said. It's true, I _know_ that that's true…" Al explained quietly.

Roy gave them a sympathetic look, though not one of pity. He'd learned long ago that pitying the boys could give him a black eye, courtesy of Edward. "How did you think that they did, though? Were they pretty accurate?" he offered.

Ed nodded. "Yeah. They did a good job, I think. It _looked_ like it." His auto-mail leg clanked on the floor. He seemed pretty upset. Al seemed to agree with him.

Roy just nodded numbly at them. He pulled to a stop as one of the lights near the edge of town turned red. No one noticed the large green truck come barreling out of nowhere. Alphonse's side was the only side facing that potentially deadly detail. So, when Roy's light turned green, he moved forward almost cautiously.

The green truck swept through the red light. And the last thing that everyone was expecting was a

_CRASH!_

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><p>Veterinary Technician Riza Hawkeye had just finished her shift at work, following a rather large red SUV in her attempt to get home. She'd seen the vehicle several times and had even seen the owners- a man and his two blond sons. She drove behind them at least twice a week. She would be pulling off here in a couple of minutes to the street toward her house, where she lived alone with just her dog.<p>

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices something come from the intersecting street quickly, almost out of control. She glances at it, and her eyes widened to sizes far out of proportion. She quickly makes sure that her brakes are applied and will _stay_ applied.

As soon as the man in front of her pulled out, she realized that he didn't see that car coming. And she'd have launched out of her car to tell them to stop rather than _ever _seeing a scene like that…

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><p>Well, there's that. What do you think, better than last chapter? I think that it was. :) I hope that THAT caught your attention! We don't get to see the exact happenings of the crash, but we see what happens afterward :) Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!<p>

With love...

Ja ne! :-)


	3. Chapter 3

_**Mock Crash**_

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews this time around! XD Love you all now :) And guess what. So, for algebra in school we have to have this uber calculator that I love, and since my math class is first block, I can use it after that. Well, on my uber calculator you can write out stories and such, and I literally do that. The entire first part of this story- in the car, two pages worth of Microsoft Word- was written on my calculator. As a result, I love my caluculator now, too! :3 Just in case you were curious...

Special thanks to: _BandGeek99_: Thanks so much for being the first to review! Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude, it just kind of irked me that on the only two FMA fanfictions I write, no one bothers to review :/ anyway, I know that it shouldn't get me down, but it's kind of hard not to, you know? Different, you say? How so? And she ends up taking QUITE the part in this :3

_St. Iggy the Pyro_: Thanks for the review! I know it, I love them too! XD I spend SO much time looking for stories like that... ;) Anyway, thank you soooo much! :D

_nameless person:_ I understand that you may not see this for a while, but thank you. So much. For the review. Seriously.

_As A Jester Fool and Joker_: You have quite the penname there... anyway, thanks for the review! C:

_Happy Face_: Just like I said with _nameless person,_ thank you for reviewing. Thank you much :D

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><p>Edward forced open his golden eyes, wincing in pain. He was hanging upside down, his hair and arms dangling down below his head. He could see his legs- the auto-mail one and the flesh one.<p>

All was quiet besides the hissing of a busted car engine.

He groaned loudly and reached up to unbuckle his seat belt. However, only his left arm responded, attempting to find its way toward the thing holding him against the seat. Glancing down at his right shoulder, the only thing that he could see was a bunch of blood dripping from it grotesquely and what looked like hanging ligaments… but he saw no arm. He opened his mouth and screamed as much as he could, though it only came out as a hoarse wheeze, an exhale that did nothing to draw anyone's attention but did hurt his throat.

He fought to escape his captor until the now-weak belt snapped, dropping him to the ceiling and nearly cracking a rib. He sat up and looked around. "Alphonse!" he gasped.

Al was hanging limply from his seat still, unconscious. The entire left side of the car was squashing him in. Ed lifted his only remaining arm and released the seat belt. Alphonse, however didn't budge, not even when Ed pulled on his arm.

"Al…" the older alchemist moaned, shoving at his brother's shoulder. 'This can't have happened again…' he thought in horror. He glanced up, sending a fair amount of blood to the seat above him, trying to find their caretaker. He spotted him, crushed against the rearview mirror and ceiling painfully.

"Roy!" he cried hoarsely.

The man didn't reply, didn't even move.

Ed finally left his comatose brother where he was, going to see if their guardian was alive. Ed collapsed suddenly as his injuries caught up with him while he maneuvered his way through the crushed metal interior of the SUV. He gasped in pain and tried to pull himself back up. Suddenly, like a chorus of heavenly angels, a voice descended on his awaiting ears. For the first time, the rest of the outside world's noises came to him.

"Hello? Yes, there was a crash, a bad crash. No, I just saw it. So far there's no movement from one car, the other one had some guy stumbling out, obviously drunk out of his mind. Should I keep him here? 'Kay, thanks… Um… no, still nothing. Okay, thank you so much. Yeah, it wasn't even that crowded. This guy just barreled out past a red light and slammed into a red SUV. Huh? Oh, just a sec…"

He could hear the sound of heels clacking noisily onto the ground and then the grass, where Ed suddenly realized the car was. How…? Grah, it was making his aching head hurt even worse!

"No, it's too crushed, I can't read it. Yeah it's pretty bad. The truck- what the drunk was driving- crashed into it and sent the car flying, I saw it flip at least seven times, once in the _air_. Huh? Oh no, not you. I thought I heard something, I'll be just a second…" the heels clacked over and stopped by the door nearest Edward.

Edward didn't even realize that he'd cried out to the voice, but he chose to try it again. "H-h-help…" he tried. The person crouched down, and the nervous but kind face of a woman appeared in the window. She gasped at him, seeing all the blood everywhere.

"Are you awake? Is there anyone else in there with you?" the woman cried.

Ed tried to move, but eventually just went with a nod.

"How many?"

Ed couldn't even attempt to answer so that she could hear him. The woman sighed and started to pull the door off.

Ed glanced up when he heard a groan. Roy seemed to be moving. "R-Roy!" he gasped, trying to move over to the man.

"E-Ed?" Roy asked.

"Nnhnn…"

"Where's Alphonse?" Roy groaned, breathing heavily.

"H-he's over there… but he's stuck, I can't get him out," was Edward's desperate reply.

Roy attempted to move around to get off of his neck, just managing to fall over to his stomach. If this weren't so serious, Edward would have found that highly amusing. The man shuddered and gasped in pain. "Wh-what happened?" he asked.

"Someone hit us. Apparently we were flipping…" Ed whimpered. He felt so weak at the moment, even more weak than he'd felt in the first crash that had taken his parents.

Roy righted himself and took in Ed's condition. He noticed that the boy had a bad slice on his forehead, and several others covering his neck and left arm. He was missing his entire right arm. "What the hell happened to your arm?" he asked, reaching forward to squeeze Ed's good shoulder.

Ed winced. "I dunno. When I woke up it was like this…" he replied.

The woman's voice suddenly floated back into their hearing range. "Excuse me, I can't get the door open. Someone's going to have to kick out the window so I can get you out." she cried.

Roy glanced up. "Is someone outside?"

"Yeah, huh. She called 911." Ed fought his way toward the window and sat down to kick it out.

"That's not a good idea, Ed! You could break our foot or leg or _something_!" Roy said, worried.

Ed simply replied by shaking his left leg, the leg that he planned to use to kick it out. The pants were tattered and the legs were practically falling off, revealing his auto-mail, causing Roy to blush fiercely. How could he have forgotten about the boy's metal appendage? "I'll try!" Ed called to the woman. He struck out directly with his auto-mail leg. The glass shattered immediately, weak compared to the powerful metals that had been used for his special leg.

The long, pale arms of the woman reached in and latched onto his good arm, pulling him out immediately, somehow maneuvering him so that he fit into the squashed window well enough. The woman hugged him tightly. "Who else is in there?" she breathed.

"M-my brother and our guardian…" Ed said hastily.

"Alright. You sit here; I'll get them out. Listen; there are the sirens now. See? You guys will be fine, promise."

Ed nodded at her, and she pushed herself into the car.

Moments later, an ambulance, two police cars, and a fire engine arrived. Ed was loaded into the back of the ambulance quickly and, as soon as Roy was pulled out, he was as well. Then, they left, without knowing what would happen to Al. Finally, in the ambulance to the rather large hospital, the pain ensuing mostly from Ed's arm and head dragged him under.

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><p>Hours later, Edward awoke in a bleach white room, beneath bleach white sheets staring at a bleach white ceiling. He groaned and attempted to sit up, nearly screaming in pain. "Whoa, kiddo, whoa. Lay down, your body's still trying to heal…"<p>

His body was still trying to heal? From what? Then, it came back to him. There was a crash, wasn't there? He glanced around and saw a young blond woman sitting beside him, smiling at him. He blinked, squinted, and then had to squeeze his eyes shut. The lights were killing him. Why did they have to be so bright? He looked at the woman again when his eyes calmed. "…Who the hell are you? And why are you here?" he asked her.

The woman smiled at him again, softly. "My name's Riza Hawkeye; you can call me Riza. And I called the ambulances for you, remember? I just want to make sure that you three are alright." She said. She tucked her hands beneath her legs innocently.

Edward squeezed his eyes shut again, leaned his head back against his pillow, and moaned. He breathed deeply, sucking in the smell of sterility, and finally looked down to see how his injuries were.

His right arm was only a stump with one large, bloody bandage around it. His left arm fared better, just with a few bandages dotting it, covering up any cuts. His left thigh was covered in small bandages as well, and his auto-mail looked like it would need a quick fixer-upper. His right leg was in a cast, he guessed that it'd been smashed. Looked like he wouldn't be moving much. He glanced up at Riza again, and nodded at her. "Thanks…" he said. He sat up a little to look around. He saw Roy on the bed on Riza's other side, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find Al.

"Where's Al?" he demanded.

Riza blinked, surprised. "Who's Al? I can't say that I know him…"

"My little brother! Okay, he's an inch or two taller than me, he has short dirty blond hair and bronze eyes and he was absolutely _squashed_ in the car and oh god he's dead isn't he… oh god…" Edward's breathing suddenly started coming in short, dangerous gasps. He fought to stop tears from flooding his eyes.

"No! No, of course not! They got him out, and he's alive, but he's in the ER right now. He's in a bad way. They had to use the Jaws of Life to get him out, and he was still pretty squashed in there." Riza assured calmly, amazed at the kind of loyalty this boy had for his brother. Her own brother hadn't talked to her in ten years.

Edward glanced up at her. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Of course. I said I was his mother and rode in the back of the ambulance he was in. And he was fine last I saw him."

Edward still seemed unsure. He sighed, however, and bit his lip. "How… how long have I been out?" he whispered.

"Just a few hours. Now that I think about it, I should probably call in the nurses; they asked me to… I'll be right back." Riza stood and left.

Edward glanced over at Roy, who he could now see clearly. The man was unconscious still, and he looked like he had a bandage on the opposite side of his nose. So, Al's completely out of it, and Ed lost another limb, but all he suffers is a broken nose? 'This was so rigged…' he couldn't help but think angrily. He knew he was pushing it a bit, but still. Edward's eyes trailed over the rest of him, and he could tell that he had been off. One of his arms was broken, and the other was wrapped in bandages, probably from flying glass. He was having difficulty breathing; each breath was simply a shuddered gasp.

Edward's head hit the pillow. 'Twice in my childhood, a drunk takes away someone close to me.' He thought. At least, if Alphonse doesn't make it, then the bastard would have taken someone from him. He couldn't even help the surge of anger and protectiveness when he'd seen Roy- their guardian for a full year, who had done what he could physically, emotionally, and even financially to help them- in such a weakened state. Which amazed him. He'd only ever treated the man as a bastard. In fact, only one family outside of his own family had he _ever_ treated like that.

And now that he was thinking about them, he wondered how they were, and if their little daughter Elysia was all right…

Riza came back in, followed closely by a kind nurse with mousy brown hair and big blue eyes. "Hello darling," the nurse said. It took Ed at least ten seconds to figure out that she was talking to him. "My name is Charissa. I'll be watching after you and your father for the time being."

Edward blinked, staring at her. Was Hohenheim here? Had Hohenheim not died like they'd thought? Then he realized that she was talking about Roy. She thought that Roy was his father? When the bastard didn't even look like him? He shifted cautiously and licked his lips. "'Kay…"

"Are you sore at all?" Charissa asked. When he nodded, she pressed on, "Where?"

"Everywhere…"

Charissa barked a laugh. "Okay, where does it hurt _the most_?" she amended.

Edward's eyes narrowed darkly. "My head… and my arm. My _right_ one. They _hurt_."

Charissa took a seat at Ed's side. "And they probably will for a while. I noticed that you had auto-mail on your leg, so I was just wondering if you might want to have it done on your arm as well. It'll help you lead a normal lifestyle, and if you want we can put a covering over it so it looks nothing more than just your arm." She explained softly.

Edward glanced at her, and after a few seconds, at his guardian, still unconscious. Auto-mail- no matter which way you look at it- is expensive. And Edward certainly didn't have the money to pay for it. And he didn't know whether or not Roy would be willing to pay for it.

He glanced up at Riza then, practically looking for help. She somehow knew what he was thinking, because she asked, "How much time could he take to think about this? He… he's not sure about his father." Riza nodded over to Roy.

"You take as much time as you need, hun. And then we can get the _best_ auto-mail mechanic that there _is_ out here, from Rush Valley. We'll suit you up with the best that they have. There's this new girl out there, I don't know her name, but apparently she's a _prodigy_. Hmph, maybe you'll be able to get your auto-mail from her." Charissa said, all chipper and apparently very excited.

Riza raised her eyebrows. "I think I've heard of her. Her auto-mail's light but very workable. Winry, I think they said? Anyway, she lost her parents in the Ishbalan war and stayed with her grandmother until last year, is what the papers said." She added.

"Winry?" Ed asked. He seemed unsure about the whole thing.

"She's supposed to be great. Anyway, we can figure that out later. I think that you should rest for now." Charissa said. She smiled at him, checked his diagnostic sheet, pushed him back down onto the pillow, and then left.

Ed glanced up at Riza, who smiled and then turned to Roy, again reinforcing his need for sleep. And eventually, he did go to sleep, wondering what was wrong with his brother and why he had the feeling that they weren't telling him something the whole time…

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><p>Hehe, sorry that took as long as it did... I got so lost... : That's never fun. I don't really know what to say, now. So, I guess...

Thanks for reading! Please review!

With love...

Ja ne! :-)


	4. Chapter 4

**_Mock Crash_**

Special thanks to: _BandGeek99_: Oh. Well yes, that is a little different, isn't it? hehe, thanks for reviewing!

_FullmetalFan16_: Here... is... more...

_Moonlight Tiger_: Thank you lots :D

_Gothic-Romantic99_: 1) Thanks :) I do try. And really? I just wrote how I thought that they might act after being in a mock crash, 'cause I know that mine just really made me think. Mostly about this, but still. 2) Are you ebing sarcastic? I mean, for real? Did you really not expect that ending? :D Thanks, and I thought that if they're teased and he knows about it, what else should he think? 3) Very intense! XD Don't worry too much about Al, he just needs to heal. Some things need to happen before he can wake up. Foreshadowing? Nah... ;) And that's exactly how I feel about them! XD

_As a Jester Fool and Joker_: As it should be. I just figured that I'd let you know it's awesome. :) Yay Ed lost his arm? Thanks for explaining that, but that's mean... 0.o

_St. Iggy_: No story at all, I agree. And yes. It would be very short. And very boring, I'd say. 'Cause he'd probably only have an automail leg. :p

_AtasukiMemberShadow_: Thank you :) Agreed, poor Al... :'(

_Fireena_: Holy crap batman? Ah, you make me laugh... :D

_bronze andromeda shun_: 1) That makes me feel special :D You went on my profile because you were despressed :D (kinda?) And thank you ;) 2) Of course Al again! XD

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! I literally got stuck right in the beginning of this chapter; I didn't know how to start it! And then, just 3 lines in I got stuck... but hey, I was trying. That's the important thing, right?

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything in this story besides Charissa from last chapter but she's hardly important.

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><p>"Mommy, Mommy! What's that noise? It's loud, make it stop!"<p>

Gracia Hughes raised her eyebrows at her little daughter. "Don't worry darling, I've got it. Hello, Hughes Residence. May I ask who's calling?" she said automatically. She heard a deep, pain-filled sigh, and then a friendly voice say, "Hey Gracia. I need a favor."

Gracia sighed heavily. She smiled. "Roy. Why are you calling _now_? After almost _two months_? We were starting worry." She said. She switched the phone to her other ear and turned to glance down at Roy's goddaughter.

"Sorry, Gracia. A lot's happened, especially with the boys around."

Gracia could hear his fond tone as he spoke about those two. She smiled a little as well, and took up the seat beside the phone. She'd never gone to visit them at Roy's, but they had stayed with them after a bout with an abusive family that her husband Maes had saved them from. "Okay, hun. What's the favor?"

"I… un… I need you and the family to come out here. To the hospital. Just ask for me and they'll let you up right away. _Please_…"

Gracia froze her playing with the leather of the chair. "Wh… the hospital? The… oh, you _stupid man_, how are the boys? When did it happen? Are you all right? I… I…" she didn't know what to say. She honestly hoped that maybe Roy had just gotten a bad case of the flu; he sounded weak enough. But she knew that such wasn't true. He wouldn't be calling for the whole family if it were just him that was hurt.

"I'll be okay, but right now I guess I'm struggling. Um… the boys… Edward's awake and everything, and he's in… he's in counseling right now. Alphonse hasn't… not yet. He's not awake and hasn't woken since the crash."

Gracia's eyes widened. She heard, faintly, in the background: "Gracia, are you alright? Who's on the phone?" from her husband, who had just gotten out of the shower and was still drying off his hair. "Crash…" she breathed. "You… you bastard! You weren't drinking again, were you? How _could_ you? I don't know _why_, but I thought those boys meant something to you! Why would you drink when they were in the car?" she screamed. She stood, only to find that was a bad idea and crash to her knees seconds later. "_Gracia!_" her husband cried.

"It's not… not like that! Of course I wasn't drinking, what do you think I am; stupid? The _other guy_ was drinking…"

"Oh? And who is this _other guy_?" Gracia snarled. She felt completely out of line- especially to an injured person- but who cared?

"I don't know? He was driving a big green truck and he just about killed all three of us! At the moment, Alphonse is _lucky_ to be alive…"

Tears started to fall out of her eyes. "F-fine… just… just tell me what room you are in, and we'll head out there. Are you in that Midwest General? Just a second, let me grab a pad…" she scrambled toward the hutch, where she had quite a few pens and pencils sitting around and a number of pads. "Okay, go ahead… nhnn… okay. I've got it." Gracia tucked the pencil behind her ear and sighed in relief. "We'll be down there soon. Tell the boys that we love them, and hope that they feel better soon. Yes, all right, the _boy_, but tell Alphonse as well. Bye Roy. Yes, yes. Bye-bye." She hung up the phone and set it back in its cradle. She smiled up at Maes, who stood, watching her in confusion.

"Roy? As in, Mustang? Why did he call?" Maes asked. He lifted his hand to wipe her tears from her eyes.

Gracia quickly wrapped her arms around him, and sat against his warm chest. "There was an accident, Maes. That he and the boys were in. It must have been bad; Alphonse hasn't woken up yet. Roy wants us to come down." She whispered.

"He needs us to…"

"Probably just for some support for the boys. He didn't explain _much_, but Ed's in counseling and Roy probably will be too." Gracia said. She sank down to the floor.

Maes crouched with her. "But they're alright?"

"Roy and Ed are, I'm not sure about Al. But he hasn't woken up yet."

"As you said."

"Nhnn… should I pack Elysia's clothes? Roy wants all three of us to come down."

"You do that. I'll pack ours." They went their separate ways; Maes to their shared room, and Gracia to Elysia's. Little Elysia followed her mother closely. "Mommy, why are you crying? Who was on the ringing thing?" the tiny girl asked her. She was already four; and hadn't seen her two big brothers in a full year, since they'd stayed with them.

Gracia went to the closet to grab a luggage for her daughter and then slid into the girl's room. "Your Uncle Roy was on the phone, honey. He and your brothers were in an accident. We have to go down to meet them to make sure that they're okay."

"A accident? What were they in a accident for?"

"I can assure you darling, that's the last thing that they wanted to have happen. How about you help me pack some clothes for you so that we can get going sooner?" Gracia offered softly.

Elysia put her hand on her chin to think for a moment. Then, "okay Mommy! Can I play with little big brother Ed and big brother Al?"

Tears filled Gracia's eyes again. Oh, would Elysia be heartbroken… "You might be able to play with Edward, but Alphonse is very tired. He has a lot of sleep that he needs to catch up on. So we cannot disturb him."

"Aye aye, Mommy!"

* * *

><p>The ride was quiet and seemed to be the longest ride that Gracia had ever been in. The first place that they went to was the hospital before checking in anywhere. As Roy said, they were immediately allowed up. Once in the room, they noticed Roy on one of the beds and Ed on the other. Ed had his back facing Roy, and Roy seemed to be trying to get him to talk to him.<p>

They finally caught his attention and he smiled at them, turning to face him. Elysia would have screamed if Maes hadn't realized that she was about to and grabbed her, pushing her against his leg.

The entire left side of Roy's face was bandaged- from his chin to his forehead and going all of the way around past his ear.

"What…"

"This? It's nothing. I… somehow, something must have gotten into my eye and destroyed it; I can't see anything out of it now. My whole left side is burned too." Roy explained, turning away from his annoyed charge.

"So you're _blind_?" Elysia demanded.

"Only in one eye."

Elysia shuddered against her father. "…That's creepy. Little big brother Ed! Where's brother Al?" she said, noticing Edward sitting cross-legged on his bed, turned away from them. She went over to him… and _did_ scream. "Your _arm_!"

"Don't make a fuss, Elysia, there are other patients…" Roy groaned, fearing his friends being kicked out.

Edward turned away from her too. He winced when Gracia approached him. "Oh honey, what happened to your arm?" she asked.

"It got ripped off? I don't know, I didn't feel it. I just know that before the crash it was there and after the crash it wasn't."

Immediately, Gracia seated herself behind him and pulled him back into a hug. "Mrs. Hughes… please…" the boy whimpered, sounding very much unlike himself. Gracia ignored him, softly petting his head. "Oh, this crash did all three of you in, didn't it honey? You poor little thing."

Edward started to fume, but Gracia pulling him back into a hug settled him. Tears filled his eyes, and he nodded. "yeah, it did…" he agreed.

Roy watched the exchange, ignoring the tears in his eye. He glanced up when Maes called his name. "Hmm?"

"Why was he ignoring you?"

"…Cause he seems to think that it's _my_ fault, like I _wanted_ the damn thing to happen." Roy said, earning himself a smack and a snarl from Maes. Thankfully, Elysia wasn't paying him any attention.

"Well, if you'd been watching the road and paying _attention_ then I wouldn't be blaming you, bastard!"

"Ed!"

"Why is it always _me_ that wasn't paying attention? There was another one in the crash! _He_ was the one drunk off of his mind!"

"So if _you'd_ noticed, you coulda stopped!"

"Pretty sure that when a person's _that_ drunk they're going to find _someone_ to crash into anyway!"

"Then why was it us?"

"How in the heck should I know?"

Edward made a motion to cross his arms, finally just wrapping his left arm around his chest. He leaned back on the bed and groaned, "ah, life sucks."

Roy sighed, but he nodded, agreeing with his foster son. "Yes. Yes it does."

* * *

><p>That wasn't as good as I wish it was, but I just wanted to get this updated. So, how was it? Thanks for reading! Please review!<p>

~YAJJ


	5. Chapter 5

**_Mock Crash_**

Special thanks to: _St. Iggy the Pyro_: ...Flying... Cat... Pucky... I don't even know what to say... Yeah, he does. D: And no, and he won't be for a few chapters. DX Aww thank you! XD * blushes *  
><em>FullmetalFan16<em>: Sometimes, it does. Especially in Ed's case.  
><em>Perseus46<em>: Really? Thank you! They probably won't be this chapter... 0.o well, maybe :)  
><em>DeathBySugarCube<em>: Yeah... D: It won't be for a few chapters now.  
><em>Fireena<em>: Yeah, but there must be someone to blame. And you can't really place the blame on someone you don't know... well, you can, but it won't really do anything for you. You know?  
><em>zeldawolf2000<em>: Don't worry ;) And here's an update? (The author offered quietly, afraid for the wrath of the enjoyers of this story) 0.o  
><em>UltraWolfie<em>: Thank you :) He should be fine. As interesting an idea as it'd be, I don't think that I'd do it. I know what you mean, me too! (Kind of?)  
><em>Cartoon Cow<em>: ...

A/N: Sorry it took so long! Please... don't... hurt... me... I lost my motivation again! DX But, I seem to have got it back, and hopefully it'll stay for a while! Lolz :)

**Date: **07/28/2011 5:00 a.m.

Disclaimer: I still don't own FMA.

* * *

><p>Edward set his head in his hand, by his comatose brother's side. He sighed deeply. "Good morning Al…" he whimpered. He may or may not have spent the night in the chair beside his brother, despite Roy trying to get him back into his own room. He yawned widely and focused his eyes on Al's unconscious form. "You know, I think that that damn crash did more than I thought. I think my leg's busted. Er, not my flesh leg. My metal one. It's not so bad. Actually, turns out my leg was only fractured. It's not so bad to walk on. They wanted me to use a <em>wheelchair<em> or_ crutches_. Pfft, yeah right." He laughed to himself.

Alphonse didn't respond. Edward just heard his heart monitor beating as it should be and saw his chest lifting up and down with each breath.

"Roy's gonna make me go down to our room again. Rrrr… _gay_. I don't want to… though I probably should. I was a little rude to him last night. Probably yelled a lot more than I needed to. But what can I say? It's who I am." He chuckled to himself.

"Roy's arm's all better too. Didn't take too long. He said that it had something to do with _milk_. But there's nothing that nasty cow juice could do to you that's good. It'll probably give you, like, mad cow disease or something."

Ed scoffed and leaned back in his chair. He wrapped his left arm around his chest. "Roy told me that I can get auto-mail if I wanted. I think I will. I hate feeling weak. Pssh, I'll show those jack asses at school who's boss. They'll wish that they'd never messed with Edward and Alphonse Elric!" he laughed.

Still no response.

After a few more minutes of trying to decide what to say, he sighed and stood. "Guess I'd better go down and apologize. Talk to you later, Al. Wake up soon."

And he left.

* * *

><p>Riza pushed open the door to her new friends' hospital room, smiling, "Hey Roy. I brought something more edible than the cardboard they serve. I just thought that you might appreciate it. Unless you <em>like<em> eating that crap." She laughed and smiled at him.

Roy grinned at her. "Hello Riza. Thanks a lot." He said softly.

Riza glanced around the room. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Ed still not talking to you?" she asked.

"Seems so. He _still_ thinks that it was _my _fault for the crash. He went to visit his brother." Roy replied. He sat up in his bed, setting down the alchemy book at his side.

"Has Alphonse made any progress?"

"Not yet. We're hoping."

Riza frowned deeply and sighed. "How old is he now?" she asked kindly.

Roy smiled brightly. "He's 15 now. He'll be 16 in about a half-year." The pride illuminating in his voice was unmasked and obvious to anyone, even someone who wasn't paying attention to him at all. He couldn't have even tried to explain where this pride came from; he just knew that he was _proud_.

Riza smiled at him. "Ed's 16 then?"

"Yup. Already."

Riza laughed softly at the joy and pride in his smile and voice. "You're so kind with them. If there were more people like that in the world, I think that others would lead much better lives." She decided softly. "_I_ think."

"And if there were more people like me, I'd be out of a job."

Riza snorted. "True." She agreed.

Roy sat up further in his bed and swung his legs out from beneath the covers. He heaved into the seat at his side, beside her.

Riza suddenly laughed, just once. "Sorry, but I don't think that I've seen someone so _proud_ of a child's age. I can't help it." She giggled.

"I don't know about that. My best friend calls me every year on his daughter's birthday just to talk for _hours_ about her."

Riza rolled her eyes and laughed. "He sounds fun." She commented. "You've done a really good job with them, Roy. You must be so proud of everything that your sons have done."

Neither heard the _tpp_ of footsteps outside of the door, nor did they hear anyone grab the doorknob.

Roy's sudden grin dropped to a soft smile, and then faded completely. He sighed and turned away. "They're not my sons. Not mine. At least—" Roy paused when the door was torn open.

"BASTARD!"

"Edward?" Roy cried.

"You… I… I THOUGHT WE COULD TRUST YOU!"

Riza was surprised by the hurt look in the younger boy's eyes.

"Edward, please listen…" Roy breathed.

"To what? More _bullshit_?" Edward demanded. He set his hands on his hips, his jawline firm. "What other _lies_ have you been telling my brother and I, huh, Mustang?" he snarled. He turned back to the door. "You bastard," he spat, and then took off down the hall.

"Ed!" Roy yelped. He stood, making to follow his young charge. He paused when Riza started following. "Just stay here, Riza. I won't be long, but I think he and I need to talk. _Please_ stay." He said. Once Riza sank back into her seat, he took off.

It wasn't that hard to find Ed. Same as at home, he went to high places when he was upset. So Roy picked his way to the roof, after a few tips from helpful nurses.

Sure enough, the quick teen was standing beside the edge, not up on top of it, so Roy was a little less worried.

Edward was looking out at the city, shaking a little. He had a piece of chalk in hand, and on the ledge was a small circle—a transmutation circle!

"Edward…"

Ed spun around, nearly tripping backwards. He narrowed his golden eyes. "Don't! Stay away from me, bastard!"

Roy gulped and extended his arms. "Ed, come here. We need to talk about this. Please."

"What's there to talk about? You never wanted us, you hate us! So it doesn't matter. You may as well just go! Just leave us here! _Someone_ will bring us to the orphanage or something. That's all we are anyway, orphans, so it doesn't matter."

"You said the same thing twice." Roy commented, slightly amused, mostly worried and afraid.

"I don't _care_!" Ed snapped. He turned to the ledge and knelt down, pressing his hands to the circle.

"No, _Edward_!" Roy snapped.

A bridge sprouted out of the roof to the next, shorter building. Ed leapt up onto it and started off at a hobbling run to the other side.

"Don't you dare! Edward, get back here before you hurt yourself, you idiot!" Roy followed him carefully.

Edward didn't seem to realize just how badly his auto-mail leg had been ruined in the crash. And, with no mechanic, it had yet to be tinkered with. Just before Roy reached the bridge, it gave out, pitching him forward in one single, fluid movement. He yelped, just barely catching hold of the bridge with his single, flesh hand. He felt his other shoulder try to make his other arm scramble for the edge. His feet started kicking, trying to propel him upwards. "H-h-_help_!" he cried.

"_EDWARD!_" Roy screamed. He leaped up onto the bridge and crashed to his stomach where Ed was holding on tightly, frantically. He reached down with both hands and grabbed hold of the boy's arm.

Ed looked at him and growled. "Let go! I can just as well take care of myself!"

"Don't be such an idiot! Edward, I need you to relax so I can pull you up, please just _trust_ me." Roy purred softly.

"And how do I do that? Last I checked, you didn't care about us!"

"Just forget what I said back there. You _didn't_ hear the right thing!"

"Then why did you say it?" Ed demanded, writhing.

"Stop it, Ed! Do you want me to slip?" Roy snapped.

Edward immediately settled. Quietly, he whimpered, "no…"

Roy sighed. "Then stay settle." He attempted to pull himself up while clinging to the boy, eventually sighing and giving up. He looked down into golden eyes. "Edward, I need to let go." He breathed as calmly as he could.

"No!" Ed cried desperately, kicking to rise again.

"Ed, don't! Just settle down. As long as you have a good grip on the bridge, you'll be fine. It'll just be one hand, otherwise I can't pull you up. Now, I've got you, can you get a good grip?"

Edward gulped and nodded. Feeling Roy squeeze his arm, he shifted until his fingers were scratching uncomfortably at the bridge. "K-kay…"

"Okay. You'll be fine, I promise." Roy assured softly. He let his left hand relinquish its hold on Ed's arm, heard the boy whimper as soon as the reassuring grip fell away. Roy set his hand beneath his chest and pushed up so he could get to his knees. As soon as he was up and had a better chance at saving the boy, he replaced his left arm. "Now, I'm going to try and pull you up. Don't move at all. Okay? Just… hang limp. If you move I might slip, and neither of us want that."

Edward shook his head in agreement.

"Okay… hold on…" With one heave, Roy managed to pull the blond into his arms and away from the edge. He stood, glad that the boy was so small. It was the only way that he could possibly keep hold of the boy. He cradled his foster son's small frame. Taking several, careful steps back, he found his way to the roof. He hit it with his knees, sighing in relief. He set the blond-haired alchemist on his lap, pressing him firmly into his chest.

Shaking, young Edward tucked gratefully into Roy's strong embrace. He whimpered frightfully into the older alchemist's powerful chest.

"It's okay, Edward, you're just fine little one… Shhh, nothing happened…" Roy cradled the back of his head and fingered the soft braid hanging loosely from Ed's head.

Ed's shaking forced his teeth to chatter. He looked over his shoulder, to see the ground. However, he couldn't see it over the ledge. He cuddled against Roy again. "I didn't… I wasn't trying to kill… I just… no…" tears of fear started falling.

Roy started hushing and bouncing him—easier said than done despite Ed's small stature. He cooed to the frightened blond. "I know… you just didn't want to talk… I know that you weren't _trying_ to hurt yourself…"

He glanced over Edward's head and spied the transmutation circle used to create the bridge. The hand petting the braid fell away to erase the circle. He picked up the chalk after a minute of trying to find it and quickly scribbled another circle—this time to retract the bridge. He touched it, noticing with satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment that the bridge, sure enough, tucked back into the roof. He started rocking Ed a little.

Ed wrapped his arm around Roy's neck, burrowing into the soft fabric on Roy's shoulder. He whined softly, "I hate this. I hate being dependent on you… You're supposed to hate me, or did you just forget that?" he snarled, thought with nothing near the anger that he wanted.

"Of course I don't hate you, I _never_ hated you." Roy purred.

"Liar." Ed spat.

Roy sighed deeply. "Oh, come on. Do you want to know what we were talking about?" he offered.

"No."

Charcoal eyes rolled in exasperation. "We were talking about you. And Al, and how you two were doing. And… I mean, sure, ever since that case when I _met_ you, you two have always been _close enough_. But you're not my sons. …Not yet."

Ed perked, and his golden eyes peeked up at the man. "Not… yet?" he asked quietly.

"Right. Not yet. I… I think that you need to see something. Come on." Roy stood and set Ed on his still-shaking feet.

Ed grabbed his foster father's arm for balance. As soon as he heard Roy's oh so soft chuckle, he released him, growling a little. "What do you want me to see?" he asked.

"I don't have it with me."

"Well, I'm not going _anywhere_ with you. So you'd better go get it."

Roy laughed. He set his hands on his hips. "Ed… you're either coming with me willingly, or by force." He said, grinning softly.

Ed turned away. "I told you, I'm not coming." He started walking toward the opposite edge of the roof again.

Roy contemplated this for a few seconds. Ed yelped when he felt Roy's hands come to rest on his sides.

"We can make this work," the man informed him.

"Oh no you don't! Bastard!" Ed cried. He started thrashing when Roy lifted him to his shoulder. "Let me go! Put me down! I can walk on my own!"

"But didn't you just say that you weren't going to?" Roy asked innocently. One hand rested on Ed's back to keep him still. The other kept his legs from thrashing.

"Fine! I'll walk, I'll walk! I'll come with, just don't carry me!" Ed cried frantically.

Chuckling still, Roy knelt and set the 16-year-old on his feet. He felt the boy punch his head softly. "Guess I deserved that…" he concluded.

"Yeah. You did." Ed started tapping his foot, his arm on his hip just like Roy had done. "Fine," he repeated, "what do you want to show me?"

Roy grinned again. He took the teen's hand and pulled him along. Ed groaned, knowing he wouldn't get away from this. He followed.

Roy led the way back down to their room. Riza wasn't there; a note stated that she'd gone to visit Al, to keep an eye on him. Roy knew that the real reason was because she knew that they'd need time alone.

Beside Roy's bed was a brown leather briefcase, where he normally kept his legal stuff. He shoved Ed down into a chair tenderly and knelt in front of it, clicking it open and digging through it. He found whatever it was he was looking for and started sifting through it, to make sure that everything was there.

Edward tried to peek over his shoulder. Honestly, as much as he pretended to not care and not even want to see the thing, the curiosity was gnawing at his very being. He wanted to know what was so important. Roy leaned a little, sensing more than hearing Edward's movement, blocking the boy's vision of the case and the packet of documents he held. The packet that happened to hold some of the most important documents of his life.

Roy stood and turned to the annoyed (annoying) boy, tucking the packet in his hands behind his back. "I'd meant to wait to show this to you once Alphonse woke up, but it seems to me that it'd do you better to show you now rather than then, since we don't know when he'll wake up." Roy purposefully said "when" rather than "if" because he was certain that the boy would wake up.

"If you think that it'd be better, wouldn't I need to see it then? Just an idea, you know." Ed snapped.

Roy chuckled softly. "Yes, I know. I won't explain this anymore, 'cause I don't think that what I said will need much more explaining once you see this." He removed the packet from behind his back and gave it to the small-statured boy.

Ed took it, his eyebrow raised at the title, Legal Papers for Edward and Alphonse Elric. "Legal papers?" he asked.

"Just read on." Roy commanded softly.

And Edward did. He flipped through the pages softly, reading through each one carefully and without missing a word. Understanding dawned on him about a quarter of the way through the first page, when he saw the word _adoption_. _Then_ his reading turned into nit-picky scanning, reading for more. "You…" he started, shock tracing along his eyes and reshaping them in a way that fascinated Roy. "These are _adoption_ papers. That means that you—or someone—are going to adopt us! I… _think_, right?" he asked.

Roy plucked the packet out of his hands and turned to the back page. He handed it back, pointing to the signature at the bottom and two more blank spaces waiting to be filled. The signature was perfect and carefully placed, as though it had been the handling of a small child. _Roy Mustang_. "That's my name. That's my signature." Roy agreed.

"But you… you just said… to her! To Hawkeye! You _said_ that we weren't your kids."

"Yet."

"You didn't say yet."

"Well if you hadn't come in I would have." The taunting and teasing in his voice made Ed blush and lower his head. Roy ruffled his hair softly, watching as Edward flipped again through the documents.

"When did you… get these?"

"The day of the crash. I'd meant for you two to sign it that night, or at least tell you about it that night. I'd gone to get it before you two got out of school, but then, the crash… well, didn't really help that. So Riza offered to go get me another one once she explained the situation."

Ed turned away from Roy, if only to hide his utter joy, excitement, and confusion. "But it's only been a year. And considering the crash and all… I mean, do you really want to spend _that much_ on two kids that you hardly know?"

"Hardly know? Ed, I know almost everything about you. Right down to what you're frightened of." Roy said. He put on something of a mocking grin.

"Frightened of? Yeah, because it takes a real genius to figure out what I'm frightened of." Ed spat.

"No Ed. What you're _really_ frightened of." Roy said that with a finality that spoke volumes.

Ed gulped, ducking his head. Ah yes… that thing that had woken him up from a nightmare a number of times. That thing that not even Al knew about.

That thing that he knew Mustang was frightened of as well.

"Are you serious? What is this, some kind of dumb joke?" Ed suddenly asked. He started laughing a little, tears brimming in his eyes and starting to fall. "Be…because _no one_ could care about us that much. We've been neglected and abused and left behind and every other bad thing that could happen to a kid," technically not true, "and never has anyone besides Mom and Dad and the Hughes' cared at all. So why…"

Roy immediately drew Ed into his arms, pressing him once again to his chest. "Well, if all that's happened, then you've got to get something good every once in a while… don't you? Equivalent exchange." He said.

Ed shook his head. "Not good like this…"

Edward was showing Roy a side that he'd only seen a few times, and each of those times before he'd been delirious in a nightmare, talking irrationally. This time, he was completely awake and thinking completely straight.

'Well, obviously not. If he was, he wouldn't be thinking like this.' Roy quickly reprimanded himself. He stroked the boy's back in the most soothing manner that he possibly could find and hushed him.

It took mere seconds for Ed to settle down. He pulled away from the older man. "Sorry…"

"Oh, it's quite alright."

"So… when do we get to… choose?" Ed asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I… was thinking that we'd wait for Al to wake up. But honestly, it's up to you." Roy said faintly. He sat on his bed.

Ed, still holding onto the documents, heaved himself onto his own. Suddenly, he grinned. "So… Riza Hawkeye…"

"Huh? What about her?"

"Didn't know you had a thing for blondes." Came Ed's cheerful, teasing reply.

"A thing for blondes?" Mustang sputtered, attempting to find a good reply. Finally, with a huff and a crossing of the arms and legs, he stated, "I do not have a thing for blondes."

"I guess I'm not that surprised. I mean, with Al and I being here. We're both blond. I know it's not like that… And everyone that you bring over to visit is blonde. Well, not everyone. But most of them were. I can't believe that I never thought of it before!" Edward was giggling to himself.

"What are you talking about?" Roy snarled. Though, he had a soft smile on his face, for more than one reason. One… well, Ed was right. Though his… _thing for blondes_ hadn't stemmed to his decision to foster and then possibly adopt the boys, it had extended to which lady friend was allowed to meet the two boys and which weren't. And, to his closeness with the blonde-haired vet tech, though that also came from the fact that she'd saved their lives: his and those of his boys.

He was also smiling because the taunting and teasing that spouted from Edward's mouth, the soft-natured mocking of his possible likes and dislikes, meant that Ed was back to taking him as a possible dad—or at least someone who could take care of him, which was more than it had been for a while. It meant that Edward liked him again… at least a little bit.

"She's awfully pretty, isn't she, Mustang? I don't know, all of that is kind of blocked by her 'put one toe out of line and I'll kill you' attitude. But then, it's nice. She'd be a good mother." Ed commented, looking at the door as though expecting her to come in and laugh with them. Or scold him for saying things about her without telling her. Which was just as possible. Even more so, in fact.

With a mystified grin, Roy nodded. "Yeah, she would."

Ed glanced back at him and chuckled deeply. Curiosity embedded itself deep into his core. "And wife."

Again, Roy nodded, though with a mystified tone in his voice as well. "Yeah… she would."

Ed waggled his eyebrows with a teasing manner in his voice. "So?"

It was with a sudden start that Roy realized something. He glared at Ed for a second, sighed, and crashed backwards onto the bed, running his hands through his hair, touching the scars against the scalp. "Shit… I _like_ her."

* * *

><p>Royai!<p>

Yes Roy, because we're all _so_ surprised... * rolls eyes *

So, there's that! It shouldn't take so long to update this time around! XD

Who wants to review? I know you do. So satisfy that urge. Just click the little link right down there. Just beneath this actually. Right in the middle of the line down there. You know you want to~~

XD

~YAJJ


	6. Chapter 6

_**Mock Crash**_

A/N: See? This one didn't take NEARLY as long as the last one! Though, it's super short, it's chock full of Parental!Roy goodness and mush sweetness! And, Ed is a little OOC too. Though only a little. I hope.

I will be answering reviews via PM, btw. XD

So... Special thanks to: **A**vaEobane, _**F**luehatraya, **D**eathBySugarCube, **F**ullmetalFan16, **z**eldawolf2000, **C**artoon Cow, **a**wesomenaruto, _**F**ireena, **M**organRoxasWhite, _**m**izzybizzy_. Thanks for all the reviews! There were 10 this chapter! That's AWESOME! XD

A/N #2: _Six-Year-Olds Are Handfuls_ will be updated shortly. I am _ that close to finishing the next chapter. After that, it will be skipping a few days/months/weeks. I'm not sure how long, but I can't go for days at a time, or that will be the most longest most boring story ever. :)

Disclaimer: I still don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

**Date**: 08/14/11 8:09 pm.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Edward and Roy were both officially released. And Roy was making Ed stay at home, for at least a few nights a week. Ed, obviously was not happy with the arrangement, chose to ignore Roy again that entire day.<p>

The third day, however, at midnight, was a different story.

Roy was awake in his room, skimming through the novel that he'd picked out after taking Ed to the library yesterday. He'd have been actually reading it if he wasn't so worried about Al and Ed.

Earlier that day, he'd been told that, from the extent of the head injury that Al had received, it would be _incredibly likely_ if he lost his memories. Roy wasn't worried as much about that as he was about which _ones_ the bronze-haired boy would lose. He hoped desperately that it wasn't the ones of the past year, but of before that. In some of their worst foster homes.

Something else was also bothering him. As much as the doctors had done, they'd been unable to save his eye. It would never work again. He supposed that it wasn't that big of a deal—he did have two, after all—but that certainly wouldn't _help_ his job any. He knew that.

He was pulled back to reality by the softest of taps on his door. Knowing that they had no animals and that Edward wouldn't bother to come to him in the middle of the night—if something was wrong, he'd hear about it in the morning—he sat up and listened for the noise again.

Knock, knock

This time it was firmer. Not hesitant at all, as though more prepared than it had been. Roy swallowed and called softly, "come in…"

The door creaked open, and he could barely see the silhouette of a small teen in the light. "Hey… hey Roy? Can I ask you something?"

Roy rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Come on in, Ed." He watched as Ed came the rest of the way in, closed the door, and flipped on the overhead light. The child then stood there, golden eyes fixed on Roy's own dark one.

Roy patted the bed beside him. "Come sit, kiddo. What's the matter?" he crossed his legs to give the golden child more room.

Ed nervously did so, taking a seat beside his foster father. "…Everything… it's all going to change, isn't it?" he breathed.

Roy frowned, confusion leaking through each and every pore. "What will?"

"Everything! It'll all be different from earlier. Right? _What_ could stay the same?" Ed demanded, running his hand along his thigh.

Roy reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Is this what's bothering you? Well, what do you _want_ to stay the same? Sure, some things will _have_ to change, but that doesn't mean that everything will." He assured softly.

Edward licked his lips and sighed. He seemed to be thinking deeply. "I want… I want most everything to stay the same. I was comfortable with that. This… is different. And difficult." He whispered.

"Most everything cannot stay the same."

"…I know…"

Roy set his hand on Ed's head and started playing with his long hair, which was for once not pulled back at all. Normally, Ed would have scowled at him and slapped his hand away, but today he seemed too lost to care much. "is there anything that you would prefer to stay the same? That I might be able to do something about? There must be _something_. I'm not _completely _unhelpful you know."

Ed chuckled. "You're not _that_ unhelpful." He breathed. Then he sighed, as though not wanting to explain what he was about to but having to anyway. "…Um… I was comfortable with the way that we were. You know, around each other. I don't want that to change. I mean, you at least _acted_ like you cared. And I know that I didn't exactly show it much, but I _did_ care. And Al obviously did, he'd probably _die_ if he tried to show it much more."

Roy chuckled at the small blond boy, nodding in agreement. Yes, the younger of the brothers could very much put himself in danger by being _too nice_ and caring so much. Then he frowned. "You know… you know, you don't have to agree if you don't want to. I was just kind of putting it out there. If you're not comfortable with actually being… you know, _my boys_, then you don't have to be. Just say so."

"No!"

Roy winced, watching the boy who had turned toward him with such a quick response that it'd shocked the man into silence.

"no… it's not that. I mean, that's the best thing that's happened to us in _years_, besides you agreeing to foster us. It's not that I don't want you to adopt us. But… I don't want to all of a sudden become _your kid_, like nothing was ever any different. I want to be like we are now, with our past being acknowldeged and-"

"Did you really think that that'd change?" Roy's eye was wide, his eyebrow raised, the ridge for the other raised as well. He laughed. "Ed, just because I'm adopting you doesn't change the fact that you were born to different parents, that you're not ever actually related to me. That doesn't change the fact that you were with a dozen different foster parents, most of which hurt you in one way or the other."

Ed's golden eyes were watching him, his eyebrows raised in an unfortunately very hopeful expression.

"Nothing like _that_ will change."

Edward bit his lip and turned away from the black-haired man. He nodded, unable to say more than, "kay."

Roy sighed and rubbed his hands up the child's sides. Then, he slid his arms around his stomach and pulled him back into a hug. "But there's something else bothering you."

"What do Al and me have to change?"

"…What?"

"Would we have to change anything? I mean, technically we'll be Mustangs if we agree, right?"

"Well yeah, technically."

"So…" Ed sighed and shook his head. He leaned back against his soon-to-be-father. He started muttering under his breath. "Edward Elric. Alphonse Elric." He nodded, apparently liking the way that those names sounded. "Edward Mustang. Alphonse Mustang." He glanced up at Roy, who shrugged. The name didn't sound good or bad either way. Ed shrugged as well and set his chin in his hand. He frowned. "Edward… Elric-Mustang?" he suddenly offered.

Roy was surprised at the random offer. He looked down into the sparkly eyes of the boy, waiting to see if that was right at all. "Well… sure. I mean, I'm sure _lots_ of adopted kids combine their names like that. You can if you want." He assured.

Edward nodded in confirmation. "Alphonse Elric-Mustang." He muttered. Finally, he sighed deeply from his nose. "That works." He decided.

Roy chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Okay." He said. "Now, it's late. Time for bed. Is there anything else?"

Ed suddenly hopped away from him, turning on the bed and crossing his legs. "Yes, actually. A few things. First off, what are you gonna do about Riza?"

"Riza? Listen Ed, I've got a lot on my mind for the time being, relationships aren't exactly at the top."

"It doesn't have to be at the top, but it should be up there. I mean, you like her, she likes you."

"Come off it Ed, she does not." Roy scolded.

"Fine. You don't believe me, ask her yourself."

"I'm not going to _ask her_. At the moment, there's too much going on, I don't want to have to deal with something like this."

Ed crossed his arms and glared at the older man. "Oh please. It'll _matter_. It'll be the most important thing of all in a few months. And then you'll be wishing that you'd listened to me." He scolded.

Roy pushed him up off of the bed. "Get outta here." He snapped.

"Wait! There's one more thing." Ed seated himself again. "Roy… can I _please_ get auto-mail? I know that it's expensive, and I can get a job and pay you back if you want, but I hate feeling weak! And if I don't take care of it now, I may never be able to do anything for myself for the rest of my life! I'll have to _leech_ off of you for the rest of my _life_." His eyes widened, watching Roy, waiting for an answer.

Roy rolled his eye and turned away, shaking his head in exasperation. "You want auto-mail?"

"Yes!"

"…Fine. And you don't have to pay me back. My job can more than pay for it. Why don't we figure it out in the morning though, okay? It's already, like, 12:30." Roy decided kindly.

Ed _grinned_. Seconds later, Roy found his arms full of the traumatized child, who had thrown his arms around his neck and was breathing, "thank you thank you thank you…"

Roy sighed and petted his hair. "Don't, Ed. You're being weird again." He said softly. Yet, he squished the teen tighter in his embrace."

"Thanks, Mustang…" Ed sighed. Then, as though realizing what had just happened, he leapt off of the man and off of the bed, blushing. "D-don't tell anybody! I… I don't know what came over me! Nobody, got it, Mustang?" he said.

Laughing, Roy nodded. He tapped his temple. "Got it, short stop."

"I'M NOT SHORT!"

"Of course not. Good night, Ed."

Blushing still, Ed nodded and left. "G-good night, Mustang."

Roy rolled his eyes, realizing that Ed had left the light on. He got up, turned it off, and climbed back into bed, the luminous light of his lamp glowing out of his window softly onto the tree branch beside it. He flicked the light off and leaned back in bed, having a good feeling that he'd sleep a lot better than he had in a while.

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><p>Bad ending! But it's finally done! Now I don't know what will happen next chapter, but something will. ;)<p>

...There's that button. You know you want to click it. You KNOW you do. See? It says review. You love that button. And you like this chapter. Adding that together, that makes your cursor slowly inching toward that cute little button down there.

FOLLOW THE TEMPTATION!

:)

Please review?

~YAJJ


	7. Chapter 7

_**Mock Crash**_

A/N: That's right, you read right. Mock Crash is finally being updated!

Special thanks to: **_F_**_luehatraya_, _**a**wesomenaruto_, _**C**artoon Cow, **m**izzybizzy, **J**oker Oak, **F**ireena, **D**eathBySugarCube, **z**eldawolf2000, _Morgan Roxas White (you silly reviewer, you), _, _**b**_ronze andromeda shun

Disclaimer: Don't own FMA.

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><p>"Hello, Garfiel Auto-mail Prosthetics, this is Winry speaking."<p>

Roy hissed a praise that he had gotten hold of the girl that both Riza and Charissa had recommended. He was at the hospital, on his cell phone, resting against the brick wall just outside of it. After all, cell phones were not allowed inside the hospital. "Yes, hello Winry. My name is Roy Mustang, and I'm calling on behalf of my… son. Edward Elric. Recently, we were in a crash and he lost a limb. We've already discussed it, and he's said more than once that he wants auto-mail." He explained.

Winry yawned on the other side. "Alright, sir. I can get that taken care of as soon as possible. If you would just come down here to Rush Valley, I can get it built and adjusted in a few weeks." She said tiredly. Roy heard her scratching on something, he figured it must be a notepad.

Roy sighed, and she seemed to hear. "Is there a problem, sir?"

"No… well, yeah, actually. You see, Edward's younger brother was in the crash as well and he was put in a coma from it… and he hasn't woken up yet. Edward will barely go a few miles from the hospital to sleep at home, let alone a days worth of travel by train!"

"Oh. Well, I'm afraid that I won't be able to build it there, so…"

"That's quite alright, actually. Would it work if I told you the measurements?" Roy offered.

Winry took a second to think, and then nodded. "Yes, Mr. Mustang. It should. Now, first off, what does he need replaced?"

"His right arm."

"Okay. Do you know his height and the length of his arm and the length of what needs to be replaced?"

"Um… well… promise not to make fun of him. He's very sensitive about his height. So…"

Winry sighed, and Roy could hear her nod. "I promise I won't make fun of him." She assured.

"Um… alright. He's… he's 4 foot 11. I can check what his arm is, if you'll give me a second." Roy made to go talk to a nurse, until he heard, "wait." "…What?"

"…How old is Edward?"

"…16… why? Hey, you promised not to pick on him for it!"

"Can't I just laugh a little?"

"…" Roy couldn't deny that even he himself had laughed more than once and had taunted the boy on his height. "When you hang up you can laugh all you want." He decided.

"Yes sir!"

Chuckling, Roy went inside to get Ed's measurements. Once he was sure of them, he told Winry, who couldn't help but spurt off a giggle, to which Roy responded with, "hey now, be nice."

"Sorry, sorry. Alright. Tell me this number, we don't have caller I.D…." she only sounded partially upset by this, "and I'll call you when this is done!"

After he told her, she blew him an innocent little kiss and said, "alright, Mr. Mustang sir! I will see you later! Kk, bye-bye! Tell Edward and his brother that I say 'bye' too! Call you when it's done!" she giggled and hung up.

"Goodbye…" Roy tucked his phone back in his pocket and stepped inside to head up to Al's room, where Ed was most likely sleeping against his bed.

Ed had his head in his arms, nearly asleep on his brother's bed when Roy walked in.

"Ed? I called Winry. She's going to build your arm and come up here." He said.

Edward opened his eyes and lifted his head, as though barely hearing the man speak. He blinked at the black-haired man. "Okay… thank you…"

Roy raised his eyebrows and pulled up a chair beside him. He set a hand on his back and started rubbing it softly. "Edward, what's bothering you?" he breathed.

Ed shook his head and wouldn't respond.

"Edward. Just tell me, maybe I can help?" Roy insisted.

Again Ed shook his blond head. "No. You can't, I don't think." He said. He noticed Roy giving him a prying look and finally sighed, "…it's Al. I…" he took a deep breath and his face twisted. "What if he doesn't wake up? What if he never ever wakes up again? Or he does, but it's years into the future? What if I'm dead when he does?" Edward's golden eyes were frantic.

Roy sighed. "You won't be dead. Me, maybe, but not you." He assured.

"But then he won't have anyone to live with! You can't die!"

"Look, I won't die then either! We'll all live forever! But what am I supposed to say?"

Ed wrapped his left arm around his chest and huffed out of his nose. "I… don't know… I guess that… it's getting to me." He said.

Roy sighed and stroked Ed's head softly, playing once again with the soft braid. Ed growled a little but didn't make him let go. "I know. It's been getting to all of us; even Riza. But it'll be _just fine_, I promise. He'll wake up, you'll get auto-mail, and it'll all turn out _wonderfully_. Promise."

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Well… like I've said before, not much worse can happen, right?"

"…"

"Something good has to happen. And it will. We'll all be one big, happy family."

Ed sighed and shook his head, but he offered his foster father a small smile none the less. "I'm sure we will. All four of us."

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><p>Black Hayate barked loudly inside Riza's car as she climbed out of it, parked in the parking lot closer to town. She looked up at the starch white building, just as white as everything inside, and found herself pinpointing where Alphonse's room was. She could barely make out the forms of someone else in there… but was it Roy or a doctor? More than anything she hoped it was Roy but… either way, someone was up with Alphonse. Someone good, she hoped.<p>

Black Hayate hopped out of the car once Riza let him out and did a circle, barking excitedly. Riza had gotten permission to have Black Hayate in the garden outside of the hospital, and Ed and Roy would be coming down to meet her there soon. Hayate continued doing circles beside her, barking, apparently bored. She just rolled her eyes at the pup.

"Riza!"

Riza lifted her hand in greeting as the black-haired man that she'd come to meet waved from the sidewalk. She tugged on Hayate's leash to pull him out of the loops and started running toward them.

Ed stood a little wobbly on his busted auto-mail leg, but he knelt to pet Hayate as they came up.

"Hi, Riza." Said Roy kindly.

"Afternoon." Riza replied curtly. "Alphonse getting better?"

"I think so. He hasn't woken up yet. 'Course, not that I'm _that_ surprised. He did get hurt pretty badly."

Riza could tell that he was trying to look on the bright side of things. She thought it was kind of cute. She turned down to Ed, who was working his fingers behind Hayate's ears. The dog was practically worshipping him, the way he was lifting his head toward him. "This is Black Hayate, Ed. He's my dog. Just call him Hayate." She said.

"Hey, Hayate… You know, you should get a cat. Al loves cats. They're pretty cool." Ed muttered, his hand roughly passing through Hayate's fur.

Riza shrugged. "Never really tried out a cat before. I've mostly only had dogs."

"They're snuggly. Er, Al says. You know, 'cause he's a fan of that stuff."

Both adults chuckled. Roy leaned over and hooked his arm with Ed's, pulling the kid up. "Come on, you can play with him in the garden. Sound okay?"

"…Sure."

Meanwhile, Al's vitals started shimmering, only a little, flickering. He was stressed, the doctors would have said. For the first time in a full month, a pair of bronze, blurry eyes opened… to a very empty room.

Goodness, where was his brother? Where was Roy? Where was _he_?

And why the hell did he feel so empty inside?

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><p>So maybe it's not the best ending. I still like the way that it turned out.<p>

So, I promised info. And Morgan Roxas White, you wonderful reviewer you, it's basically because of you that I chose that I wanted to do this. However, I would like some reader input.

So. Ed and Al were put through hell before Maes saved them. Right? Right. Well, I've had a few people ask me to write a little bit about that. And I would like to. I'd start from their most recent foster home-before Roy, I mean-and it would probably go through until a month before the mock crash, maybe. Something like that. So, I know how this will turn out, for the most part, but I must know... should I even do this? Please let me know in a review.

Speaking of reviews... there's a cute little link. You know you want to click on it. It says Review this Chapter. Do I even have to explain?

;D

~YAJJ


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